Reform UK has made major gains in early election results, while Labour faces heavy losses in England and Wales and the SNP is forecast to remain largest in Scotland.
Reform UK has made major gains in early election results across England, taking seats and council control from both Labour and the Conservatives as the largest set of elections since the 2024 general election continues to unfold.
The results are an important midterm test for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, with votes being counted from 136 English local authorities as well as parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales. Many results are still outstanding, but the early pattern points to a more fragmented political landscape and a sharp challenge to the two largest Westminster parties.
Nigel Farage’s party has made some of its most striking advances in former Labour strongholds. In Sunderland, Reform took control of the city council, ending more than 50 years of Labour leadership. It has also gained ground from the Conservatives, including control of Suffolk, Essex and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and won Havering, its first London borough.
BBC election analyst Sir John Curtice said the overnight local results showed that British politics had become “highly fragmented,” with Reform the clear winner among results declared at that stage. In a sample of more than 500 wards where detailed figures had been collected, Reform averaged 26% of the vote and performed especially strongly in areas that backed Brexit heavily in 2016.
Labour is on course for a historic defeat in Wales, where about half of Senedd seats had been declared. The BBC forecast Plaid Cymru to win between 41 and 46 seats in the newly expanded 96-seat Senedd, short of an overall majority. Reform was set for second place, while the Greens won their first Senedd seat and the Liberal Democrats were seeking to build on their single seat.
The result would end a century of Labour political dominance in Wales. Eluned Morgan, who has been Labour first minister since 2024, lost her seat, underlining the scale of the party’s difficulties.
In England, Labour has lost hundreds of council seats and given up majority control in areas including Redditch, Hartlepool, Tameside, Hyndburn and Cannock Chase. The party also lost control of Cambridge City Council, where the Greens advanced. Its losses have been less severe in London, but the wider trend has added pressure on Starmer after less than two years in office.
In Scotland, the BBC forecast the SNP to win between 59 and 63 seats in the Scottish Parliament, leaving it short of an overall majority but on course to remain the largest party. SNP minister Angus Robertson lost his Edinburgh seat to the Scottish Greens, while Scottish Labour gained Na h-Eileanan an Iar and Edinburgh Southern from the SNP.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said his party had lost the “argument for change” amid a wider wave of disappointment for Labour. Reform, which entered the election with no Holyrood representation, had not won a constituency seat among those declared but was looking to the regional list contests for a breakthrough.
The Conservatives have had some bright spots, including regaining control of Westminster from Labour and becoming the largest party again on Wandsworth Council. But those gains were set against wider losses, including to Reform in several areas. The party lost control of Hampshire for the first time since 1997, and the Scottish Conservatives acknowledged they would not retain second-party status at Holyrood.
The Liberal Democrats have had a mixed night, winning control of Stockport and Portsmouth but losing Hull to Reform gains. The Greens have won their first elected mayors in Hackney and Lewisham and taken Norwich City Council from Labour, while also gaining seats in cities including Manchester, Salford, Oxford, Southampton and Exeter.
Several important results are still to come. Reform is looking for further gains in Barking and Dagenham and Norfolk, the Conservatives are watching Barnet, and Birmingham could end up under no overall control for the first time in more than a decade. Results from new shadow councils in Surrey are also being watched by the Liberal Democrats, who hope to make gains there.
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